Inspiration

Friday, February 19, 2010

Tea-dying & dirty finds

Whew...I almost forgot to share my dirty finds from yesterday with ya.
Since it has been raining, sleeting and snowing today, I decided to tea dye fabric & tags today. My husband brought home a few tags from work...he saved them from being thrown away.
210 tags later...I started a few sewing projects. I'll share them once I'm finished with them. A brass 3 armed hanger, a lovey wooden box (a weakness), and I'm really not sure about the other thing. It's cast iron.
The cast iron thingy, a rug beater, and masher.


A metal recipe box, two more wooden boxes, a wooden and cooper spool, and a metal pulley piece.

With all the messy weather, I had a wonderful, productive day today.
The worse part, I had to go to the store to pick up a few things.
Hoping that I can make it back to the estate sale in the morning before my grooming appointment gets here & the weather permits.
Ohhh...I almost forgot...you should check out www.fionaandtwig.blogspot.com. They are having a great giveaway...."The Flea Market Style" magazine.
I'm thinking that's going to be my new favorite magazine.
Have a wonderful evening!




4 comments:

  1. Traci, I'm happy about your progress with your booth, looks great. Let me ask you something, you mentioned you were tea staining. When I try tea staining pieces they never turn as dark even when I will leave them soaking for a while. Somebody told me to use coffee instead, same thing. Then somebody told me you are not supposed to rinse your fabric. I did not rinse my last batch, it turn out horrendous. I'm hoping I can fix the ugly stains, believe me, it is not good and I did that to a lot of stuff. Any recommendations? Blessings, Marta.

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  2. Hi Marta! My tea staining experience is a combo of suggestions from others! I had the same problem with my tags not been dark enough or just looking blah. I start with boiling water & 6 tea bags. Add a dash of vanilla extract, then I add my fabric. Let it soak for a good 20 minutes or so. I tend to mess with it too much, checking the color. Once it's dark enough, I'll take it out & lay it in the sink to cool down. I like to sprinkle instant tea on it for a speckled look. It makes it look like rust stains. I don't rinse the fabric out, I just toss it into the dryer.
    Hope this helps...
    By the way, love the pink china...it's beautiful!
    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  3. Traci, i was using half a box of tea bags per bucket of water. I still didn't get the darkness. I was rinsing and I think that was the big mistake. I didn't boil my water either, just tap hot. that was because I can be lazy. I stop tea staining tags. I'm using nutmeg brown acrilic paint and diluting with water. I apply it with an sponge brush. I will do only five tags at a time with the tea, now I can paint and get the same look in minutes. My first batch was about 25 in 10 minutes. They look just as good if not better. I will try your recipe for the fabric. Take care and keep creating. Blessings, Marta.

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  4. I'll have to try painting tags...thanks for the tip!

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